Our Twenty-Four Hour Babymoon.

A few Sundays ago (the 27th of July to be exact), Marty and I boarded a 6AM flight to Orlando, Florida. A week prior, we had purchased a last minute Carnival cruise to enjoy as a ‘babymoon’ before Baby Boden joins us in the fall. We knew we only had a certain time frame to work with (due to Marty heading back to school in August) so we figured a cruise would be the perfect, relaxing, five-day getaway we were looking for!

We landed in Orlando around 11AM and purchased a round-trip shuttle ticket to the cruise port. After an hour drive in the crowded, hot shuttle, we arrived at the cruise port! Not too much longer until we’d be kicking back on the cruise ship…

…or so we thought…

After making our way through the passport line and up to the check-in counter we were asked to provide our “letter.” Letter? What letter? The agent informed us that I needed a doctors letter to board the cruise. She then escorted us over to another lady who informed us to take a seat to the side of the counter. We were – under no circumstances – allowed to board without that letter.

My heart immediately began to rush as I knew I wouldn’t be able to get ahold of my doctor on a Sunday afternoon. I called the offices and couldn’t get through to anyone. I called a nearby hospital where I once had an appointment – nothing. I continued to search my mind for an idea of how to produce this letter but it seemed like a lost cause.

While I’m frantically dialing numbers and searching through the Internet Whitepages to find my OB’s personal number, it occurred to me that I could have a family friend write the letter. Granted, the man I had in mind wasn’t my doctor but he knows me well enough to know that I take good care of myself. I quickly called his wife, briefly explained the dilemma and she passed the phone along to him. Please let this work.

I’m sure he could hear the desperation in my voice and he agreed to fax a letter of wellness to the cruise director. Whoo-hoo! This was going to work out after all!

For what seemed like the longest fifteen minutes of our lives, Marty and I waited for confirmation that the fax had been received. The cruise director approached us with a piece of paper in her hand. This is it, this is it…

“I’m sorry but we are unable to allow Mrs. Boden to board the ship…”

Marty and I looked at each other.

“…your doctor has clearly stated that you are twenty-five weeks pregnant. We are unable to allow anyone past twenty-four weeks.”

I tried to plea with her, but it was useless. We wouldn’t be going on our ‘babymoon’ cruise.

After signing some paperwork we were escorted outside and told to call a taxi. I was able to maintain my composure until I called my mom…then the tears began to flow. I’m talking the ‘ugly’ cry in this public space. Nice.

By the time the taxi arrived I managed to pull myself together but I just couldn’t hide my disappointment. As we began to sort out a new plan, I was in awe of Marty’s calm and cool demeanor. I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t as upset as I was!? He explained to me that, in the grand scheme of our lives, this was just a little bump in the road. What a privilege it is to even have the opportunity to cruise; I needed to put the situation into perspective. Talk about a humbling conversation.

Ultimately, we decided the best plan would be to fly back to Columbus and spend the week together. A stay-cation. We could go camping one night, go on long walks into downtown Columbus, eat Jeni’s ice cream, spend the afternoon at my aunt’s pool, go to a movie, eat half-price sushi; we would just spend quality time with one another. Something (I’m embarrassed to admit) we hadn’t done in months.

We had a game plan but now we had to work out the details of getting back to Columbus. Fortunately, we were able to reschedule our flights for the following afternoon without any penalties! Thank you Delta! The remainder of our Sunday was spent in Orlando, Florida. We booked a cheap hotel, went for Mexican food and then got up the next morning and went to Cracker Barrel before our flight home (I hadn’t been there in 10+ years! Nomnomnom.)

Looking back at our experience, I have say that the entire fiasco really united us. A ‘babymoon’ getaway was something we’d been looking forward to and, although we were disappointed, we faced it together. Marty was right: not being able to go on a cruise isn’t the end of the world. We may have lost some money but we (all three of us 🙂 ) are safe and enjoyed a little adventure with one another. Talk about a story for the baby book…

27 thoughts on “Our Twenty-Four Hour Babymoon.”

Oh man, I can definitely understand crying! That would be such a disappointment after being all excited and being right there–and I definitely didn’t know that a cruise line would have a policy set that early, at 24 weeks. Glad you guys still had fun and made the best of it! It really sounds like you handled the disappointment in a grace-filled way overall!

You hubby is amazing! Sounds like my boyfriend.. After my surgery when I couldn’t bodybuild he told me “at least you only have 6 weeks of recovery, some people have 6months.” At least we have good men to put things in perspective!

I would have most definitely CRIED my eyes out right then and there. (I mean, I’ve already been bummed about not being able to go on a babymoon, because of a ton of unexpected bills that came up. I think that thinking I was going on one, only to not be allowed onto a cruise ship, would be worse)! But you handled it well, and I’m sure your staycation was amazing! That’s what my hubby and I plan to do, and I think it’s going to be very special and fun!! 🙂

Did you not get your money back for the cruise itself? That’d be crazy if they didn’t refund you! Sounds like a fabulous week you must have had in Columbus though. Stay-cations are so nice. My husband and I really need more quality time together these days too. I’m glad you got to go to Cracker Barrel in Flordia! I love their blueberry pancakes. My dad was the manager of Bob Evans when I was little, so I grew up obsessed with it and still kinda am. We never went to Cracker Barrel, but now that there’s one right by my house here in Charleston (and no Bob Evans around at all), I’m learning to love CB. Anytime I suggest going Greg say he’s going to tell Bob Evans that I’m being disloyal to them haha.

We were super fortunate to get our cruise refunded (thank you Lord!) I was really nervous that we wouldn’t be refunded due to the policy information we overlooked. The plane tickets were the thing that set us back (though, we at least didn’t have to pay any fees for switching our flight dates – another God thing, I think!) And I’m glad we were able to go to Cracker Barrel too 🙂 So delicious! I also love the ambiance of the place. It transports you to such a fun era. 😀

Holy cow, that’s so crazy!! I’m sorry that things didn’t go as planned, but it sounds like maybe it all worked out in the end. But sheepish, I would have been ugly crying all over the place and I can’t even blame pregnancy hormones!

What a nightmare!!! You are such a stronger lady than I because in addition to a complete meltdown, I don’t know if I’d be able to recover as quickly as you to enjoy a staycation. Good for you for embracing the time you two (three!) had together 🙂

Omg, that would have made me lose it in public too! You’re definitely not alone on that one. Your hubs is definitely a calm guy. 🙂 Guess you picked a good one! I’m sorry to hear you couldn’t go on your cruise but I hope you guys had an awesome stay-cation. I’ve always wanted to do a stay-cation!

This story will be so great to tell her in the future! I can definitely relate to the public ugly cry. My husband is the same way — so easygoing and able to remain calm and collected! I guess opposites attract :).

I can also, sadly, relate to the lack of quality time spent together. Most of the time we’re distracted by technology or work or household chores, and we were just talking about it last night — we need to learn to put all of that away to spend one on one time together.

This is one of my favorite posts in a long time 🙂 Such honesty and I can so relate to your public cry. I would be right there with you. I love that you and your husband faced it together and still made the most of your time. I hope that y’all are able to go on another cruise sometime!